QSR1888/1/5/10-11

Depositions of Joseph Lansberry, police constable of Ampthill, William Horspool, fishmonger, Barnard Pressland, labourer Alfred Chappell, labourer, Annie Hyde, domestic servant, Henry Standbridge, labourer and James Hillsden, estate foreman. All of Ampthill. In the case of Walter Cox & George Sawyer accused of maliciously damaging an elm tree, property of the Duke of Bedford.

22 December 1887

From: 1887 To: 1888

William Horspool: a fishmonger of Ampthill. On 18 December he was in the road leading from Ampthill to Bedford at about 2.30pm. He saw the defendant in the road opposite the gate leading Postern Piece, a roadway leading from the Bedford Road to Houghton Ruins and the farmhouse there. He went up the roadway. There was an avenue of trees on the left hand side of the roadway. He did not notice any fire in the trees. He did not return the same way. The defendants were alone and were standing on the side of the road opposite the gateway. Barnard Pressland was with him. Cox spoke to him. Barnard Pressland: a labourer living in Ampthill and employed by Mr Ridgway at Houghton Park Farm. On 18 December about 2.30pm he was with the witness Horspool. He saw the defendants in the road about 20 yards from the gate leading up the avenue. Pressland went up the avenue towards the farm and did not see anything the matter in any of the trees. He returned down the avenue at about 5pm and one of the trees was burning. There were several people about. A clover stack was standing 100 yards from the tree. The tree was 12 or 13 yards from the bend in the Bedford Road. Alfred Chappell: he was walking along Postern Piece with a friend towards Houghton Ruins. He saw the defendants standing close to a tree in the avenue. Both prisoners had a piece of wood in their hands and the wood was smoking. Sawyer said to him “you did not know that we carried fire about with us”. They passed on until they reached the clover stack. It began to rain and they took shelter. Whilst they were standing there he noticed that the tree against which the defendants were standing was smoking. He could not see the defendants. The tree referred to stands near the bend of the road and soon afterwards a man named Standbridge came up. They went along the avenue until they got close to the farm house and then returned. When they got back to the tree it was ablaze and there were a number of people round the tree. They wood the prisoner had in their hand had been torchwood. Annie Hyde: she lived at Ampthill as a domestic servant. He had been in Postern Piece with Alfred Chappell. The 2 defendant were standing near one of the trees in the avenue. Sawyer said “you did not know we carried fire about with us”. They both had wood in their hands and it was smoking. She stopped at the clover stack and then noticed that there was smoke coming from the tree near where she had sent the defendants. He could not see the defendants. There had been nobody else near the tree when they passed. Henry Standbridge: on 18 December he had been going along Postern Piece about 3.20pm. He noticed one of the trees in the avenue was on fire. There was a piece burning about as big as his hat at the bottom of the tree. Some dirt had been scratched away from where they fire had started. After he passed the tree he saw Chappell and Hyde at the clover stack. He did not see the defendants. Joseph Lansberry: a police constable at Ampthill. On 18 December, from information received, he went to the tree in the avenue at Postern Piece. It was on fire. On the next night he took the defendants into custody and charged them with setting fire to the tree. Neither defendant made a reply. James Hillsden: an estate foreman to his Grace the Duke of Bedford. On 18 December he was called to a tree on fire in Postern Piece. It was an elm tree and was property of the Duke of Bedford. The tree was so burnt that they had to cut the tree down. It was nearly all consumed. It had been a living tree and part of the head had been blown off. It was a large truck about 21 feet in circumference. He valued the damaged at 30 shillings. That was the value of the fire wood not as ornamental timber. The tree was partly hollow but there was a good deal of solid wood in it. There was some torchwood in the tree. Statement of the accused: nothing to say.

item

Cox, Walter,
Sawyer, George,
Duke of Bedford,
Lansberry, Joseph,
Horspool, William,
Pressland, Barnard,
Chappell, Alfred,
Hyde, Annie,
Standbridge, Henry,
Hillsden, James

AMPTHILL, Houghton Park Farm, Ampthill Postern Piece, vandalism, FIRE, elm, fishmonger, domestic servant, estate foreman